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Cultural Anthropology Exam 3

Terms in this set (81)

Levirate
man marries widow of deceased brother
soroate
if man's wife dies, sister becomes wife
Endogamy
the practice of marrying within one's own group
Exogamy
marriage between people of different social categories
monogamy
Marriage to only one person at a time
Polygamy
marriage to several people at the same time
Polyandry
a form of marriage in which women have more than one husband
Polygyny
a form of marriage in which men have more than one wife
incest taboo
cultural rules that forbid sexual relations with certain close relatives
preferential marriage
Maintain ongoing alliances through preferential marriage to a particular class of relative
cross-cousin marriage
Marriage between an individual and the child of his or her mother's brother or father's sister
parallel cousin marriage
Marriage between the children of one's father's brother or one's mother's sister
- works to keep family property and resources from "inheritance drift"
Also works to isolate brothers from (Arab and African kinship)
Bride/groom service
potential spouse comes and lives with you a few weeks to demonstrate their skills and demeanor
bride wealth
cash or goods are given by groom's kin to seal the marriage. Confers conjugal and domestic rights on both parties. Daughters' bridewealth finances sons' marriages within families.
Dowry
the bride's family presents goods to the family of the groom or the couple. Associated with cultures with hard concepts of personal property.
marriage exchanges
work to stabilize couples by setting mutual rules and obligations. - system of mate recruitment in which specific families, groups of families, tribes, or segments of a tribe are designated as those groups from which one must choose a spouse
traditions
are often molded by political ideology over time to reinforce a national ethos.
families function as corporate groups
Extended families living together were common in 19th century America, with households shared by nuclear relatives, grandparents, unmarried aunts or uncles, etc.
Affinal
related through marriage
consanguine
related by blood
nuclear families
families consisting of parents (including single parents) and their children
Composite families
a group of nuclear families joined by a single common spouse
extended family
a family that extends beyond the nuclear family, including grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other relatives, who all live nearby or in one household.
The Sitcom Family
composed of a working father, stay-at-home mother, and dependent children
The Great Depression of the 1930s and the war years of the 1940s had kept birth rates low.
...
The 1950's
were a time of unprecedented economic growth, family stability, and a lot of babies—77 million born in fifteen years.
Beginning in the late 1960's and 1970's..
More women in the workforce
More two-income households
Fewer children
More divorces
More blended families
Kinship
the system a culture uses to define relationships between people and their various expected roles.
Kinship charts
are particularly helpful to anthropologists, providing visual representations of family relationships.
Clans
groups of families who claim a single ancestor
Lineages
the consanguineal (blood related) members of descent groups who believe they can trace their descent from known ancestors
patrilineal descent
a system of tracing descent through the father's side of the family
matrilineal descent
a system of tracing descent through the mother's side of the family
cognatic clan
mode of descent calculated from an ancestor or ancestress counted through any combination of male and female links
The main difference between a cognatic clan (e.g., Samoans) and a unilineal one is that one can be a member of multiple cognatic clans.
...
bilateral kinship
a system in which descent is reckoned through both the mother's and father's lines
sex
the biological differences that distinguish males from females
Gender
the socially constructed roles and characteristics by which a culture defines male and female
gender norms
the sets of rules for what is appropriate masculine and feminine behavior in a given culture
ideas about how women and men should be and act
sexual dimorphism
Differences in physical characteristics between males and females of the same species.
Hermaphroditic
Possessing both the male and the female reproductive organs
gender variance
umbrella term used to describe gender identity, expression, or behavior that falls outside of culturally defined norms associated with a specific gender.
Sexuality
a person's capacity for sexual feelings, a person's sexual orientation or preference
Feminist Movement
A social movement whose members advocate equality between men and women in rights and opportunities.
Environmental anthropology
focus is to highlight the different approaches cultures use to understand and relate to nature.
ethnoscientists
aim to describe and understand the conceptual models and rules in which a society operates.
They begin by comparing the classification systems used by different people.
Ethnobiology
the study of how traditional cultures classify objects and organisms in the natural world
traditional ecological knowledge
ideal for managing resources because it is customized specifically for particular local environments.
example of traditional ecological knowledge
The Tohono O'odham of the Sonoran Desert distinguish domestic and wild chili peppers by calling the latter "bird peppers" (seeds are dispersed by birds).
anthropogenic landscape
areas of Earth's surface that have been modified, to varying degrees, by humans.
Directed toward servicing the needs of human populations for food, fuel, fiber, timber, shelter, trade and recreation.
Impacts of overpopulation
human populations grow exponentially, rapidly overexploiting available resources and "crashing" the environment.
carrying capacity
the largest population that an environment can support at any given time
political ecology
the field of study that focuses on the linkages between political-economic power, social inequality, and ecological destruction
environmental justice in the US
Political ecologists recognize that environmentally harmful activities fall disproportionately on lower-income people and minority groups in the United States and around the world.
Green Belt Movement
-Kenyan movement focusing on preventing further deforestation.
A social movement that addresses the links between racial discrimination and injustice, social equity, and environmental quality.
Warren County Protests
The initial environmental justice spark sprang from a Warren County, North Carolina, protest. In 1982, a small, predominately African-American community was designated to host a hazardous waste landfill.
Applied Anthropology
the application of anthropological data, perspectives, theory, and methods to identify, assess, and solve contemporary social problems
Medical Anthropology
Studies variation in health care systems, including disease, illness, health standards, and disease theories
Cultural Resource Management (CRM)
a professional field that conducts activities, including archaeology, related to compliance with legislation aimed at conserving cultural resources
Historic Preservation
the practice of identifying, preserving, and restoring historic homes, buildings, or other sites
Practical Anthropology
Malinowski: should focus on Westernization, the diffusion of European culture into tribal societies
development anthropology
Branch of applied anthropology focused on social issues in, and the cultural dimension of, economic development
Equity
the value of the shares issued by a company.
increased equity
reduced poverty and a more even distribution of wealth
anthropology and education
anthropological research in classrooms, homes, and neighborhoods, viewing students as total cultural creatures whose enculturation and attitudes toward education belong to a larger context that includes family, peers, and society
urban anthropology
the cross-cultural and ethnographic study of urbanization and life in cities
anthropologists who work in urban planning
Identify the key social groups in specific urban contexts
Elicit their wishes for change
Translate those needs for funding agencies
See that the changes are implemented according to people's wishes
Anthropology and Business
Applied anthropologists can act as "cultural brokers," translating managers' goals or workers' concerns to the other group
public anthropology
efforts to extend anthropology's visibility beyond academia and to demonstrate its public policy relevance
goals of public anthropology
- Opposing policies that promote injustice
- Reframing discussions of key social issues in the media and by public officials
health-care systems
Beliefs, customs, specialists, and techniques aimed at ensuring health and preventing, diagnosing, and treating illness
disease
scientifically identified health threat
illness
condition of poor health perceived or felt by an individual
Personalistic disease theories
Illness caused by agents such as sorcerers, witches, ghosts, or ancestral spirits
Naturalistic disease theories
illness explained in impersonal terms (biomedicine)
Emotionalistic disease theories
assume that emotional experiences cause illness
scientific medicine
relies on advances in technology, genomics, molecular biology, pathology, surgery, diagnostics, and applications
Western medicine
practice of medicine in particular modern Western nations
industrialization, globalization, and health
-Industrialization and globalization spawned health problems
-Health interventions must fit into local cultures and be accepted by local people
-Medical anthropology studies the impact of new scientific and medical techniques on ideas about life, death, and personhood
sexual inequality
acknowledges that men and women are not equal and that gender affects an individual's lived experience. These differences arise from distinctions in biology, psychology, and cultural norms.
Issues with Globalization
Modern economic and political development is driven by the assumption that the results will be benefical for all people; however, cultural differences are not taken into consideration, leading often to the destruction of indigenous cultures.
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